Finding Someone Who Cares
by avisnight40
Summary: Harry was found in beaten and raped in his cupboard. The Dursleys abandoned him for the summer leaving him in the care of Professor Snape. What will happen when Snape receives guardianship over Harry?
1. The Start of the Horrible Summer

It was a miserable rainy day at Little Whinging, but it was a dreadful day for a certain boy living in the cupboard under the stairs at Number 4 Privet Drive. The Dursleys went on vacation to the Seaside, Vernon insisted he needed a vacation, leaving poor Harry Potter locked away with no food or water. Harry wouldn't have minded not having food since the Dursleys forgot to feed him anyways. The small boy did mind the fact that Vernon had beaten him the night before the huge man left town.

It all started the day before the family left for vacation, it was a nice warm summer day. Harry was doing his chores like he was supposed to be doing. When dinner came around, Harry went to cook it before Vernon came home, but Vernon came home early and he was drunk. The huge man did not appreciate the fact that there was no food on the table. Harry had paid for it because that night he was beaten to a bloody pulp. Vernon had grabbed him from the kitchen and threw him into the living room. Harry had tried to get up, but being thrown from such a long distance broke his ribs. Vernon didn't care, he went over there and pounded his fists at the small boy. Harry tried to protect himself by curling into a ball, but it pained him too much. If the beating wasn't enough Vernon had plans to make him miserable. Vernon decided that Dudley should beat him while Vernon raped him. It lasted for hours in that living room. When Vernon had enough, the big man threw Harry into his cupboard.

Harry wasn't quite sure how long he was in his tiny cupboard, but then again it was hard to figure out when one fell in and out of consciousness. What startled him was when someone opened the door of his cupboard. Someone Harry least expected to opened the door. The next thing the small boy remembered was slipping into a world of darkness.

 **Meanwhile at Hogwarts**

Severus Snape woke up that miserable day planning to work on making more potions for the Hospital Wing. It was a never ending process because the students used so much of the potions. Every summer, Snape restores the shelves for the next year. After Snape had his breakfast, he was heading to his potions lab when the dark man's fireplace lit up and an old man's head popped into the fireplace.

"Ah, Severus, my boy! I didn't miss you," the old man's head said.

"Albus, how come you always come in the most inconvenient times," Snape sighed in annoyance.

"Well, my boy, I have come to asked you a favor. If you don't mind doing it?"

"No Albus, I do not mind, it's not like I am doing anything important," Snape sarcastically said.

"Of course not, my boy. Now, now can you please step through and then we'll talk about this favor." Albus's head all the sudden vanish as quickly as it came. Not a minute after Snape stepped into the fireplace with a handful of floo powder. He threw in the powder and yelled, "Dumbledore's Office."

Dumbledore was already sitting behind his desk. Snape went to his favorite chair that was on the right of Albus's desk.

"Lemon drop," the old man asked.

"No Albus." Snape grimly said.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Albus asked again.

"No, Albus." Snape repeated again. "I am quite full from breakfast."

"Well, we should get to business then. It seems that Harry Potter might be in danger. My alarms have been going on and off the past week." The man paused. Snape gave him a nod to keep him from talking.

"I'm sure Potter is fine, but I will go and check on him. I will go now since I do have plans for the day that cannot have any interruptions," Snape said grimly as if his whole day has been ruined. Meanwhile Albus's face lit up with a smile when he heard Snape would go and check on Harry Potter.

"This does not mean that I care for Potter nor does it mean I like him either. I am only doing this as a favor for you." Snape said before he flooed to his quarters.

Snape stepped into his rooms briefly to change into muggle clothes while thinking to himself that only Potter is special enough to receive this attention. Dumbledore wouldn't go through all this trouble for anyone. Just for Potter, The Boy-Who-Fogot-To-Die. Once he was dressed he went to the floo once more. He walked out of the fireplace only to be greeted by Ms. Figg.

"Oh hello, Professor Snape. What are you doing here?" Ms. Figg has always been a friendly woman. A bit batty, but nice.

"Hello, Ms. Figg. How have you been?" The teacher asked.

"Oh, well quite well. Everyone has been doing much better now since Mr. Timbles is no longer in pain." Ms. Figg has always favor her cats. She had too many cats for Snape's taste.

"That's good I must be going I have to check on Potter now," Snape called out since by this point he has reached the door.

"Oh, you're going to see Harry. Finally Albus has listened to me. There is something not right in that house. You listen to me, The Dursleys have been gone for a whole week. They didn't bring Harry with them. I haven't seen Harry outside all week and I went by the house one evening to see how he was doing. He didn't answer the door and there weren't any lights on either." The teacher did not say one word and quickly mumbled something like ignorant golden boy. He walked out of the house to go to Number 4 Privet Drive.

When Snape arrived at the house that looked the same as every other house on the street. Everything looked so perfect. Nothing was out of place from any of the other houses. It was the morning, so he couldn't tell if the boy was there or not. Snape knocked on the door three times and waited. Snape didn't hear a thing.

He knocked again and waited. Snape didn't hear a peep. Snape walked to the window and looked in, but didn't see anyone in the house. He took out his wand pointing to the door.

"Alohamora," he whispered. The door clicked open and he walked right in the house. He walked around the living room and didn't find anything. The kitchen seemed deserted. Going upstairs and checking the bedrooms he didn't find a soul, but looking around the house he noticed small little things like the fact that there were only two bedrooms that occupied a bed and the only boy living here looked like a fat little boy. There was not one picture that looked like Harry had lived here.

"Point me, Potter," he whispered to his wand once more. The wand went crazy pointing to the direction of the stairs. When he went down it was still pointing to the stairs, but the smart teacher knew otherwise. Upon investigating he found a cupboard under the stairs where the wand was pointing to the door.

 _The Dursleys could not have put him in the cupboard_. Snape mused to himself. Outside the door there were locks to keep something in the cupboard. It was like there was a vicious animal. It could be possible it was Harry. He unlocked the doors and found a small boy curled inside the cupboard. The small boy looked as if someone has hurt him. Upon closer inspection Snape saw the boy in a puddle of blood. Snape's face turned white. Snape's vision turned red. Anger is all he felt. How could the Dursleys do this type of abuse on their nephew? He quickly gathered the boy in his arms and apparated out of the house.

Snape apparated outside the gates of Hogwarts. He ran in carrying the small boy with him to the Hospital Wing. He did not slow down until he got to his destination. Barging through the doors Snape startled a pump looking woman.

"Severus, what is the meaning of this? Scaring me half to death," shrilled the pump witch.

"Madame Promfrey, I have Potter here." Madame Pomfrey interrupted him at once hearing the name Potter.

"What has the boy done now? Put him there and let me do my job," she demanded.

The midi-witch ran diagnostic scans on him and finally a quill and paper appeared with the quill racing across the paper. While Pomfrey was doing her scans she tsked the whole time. She was obviously not happy about the results. As Pomfrey was working Snape watched the whole time, he finally spoke when he saw she was finishing up.

"How bad is he?" She looked up with a frown on her face. "He's bad, but he'll live after I'm done with him." She picked up the paper with all the results.

"He's malnourished, three broken ribs, one rib launched in his lung, lacerations on his back, a broken leg, and…oh no." She froze.

"What? What's wrong?" Snape asked alarmed. Snape wanted to know what was worse than what he was hearing.

"He's been raped. He's bleeding from his anal opening and there will be scaring." Snape fumed when he heard that.

"I'm going to see Albus. I'll be back," Snape rushed off to the office.

"Chocolate Frogs," he yelled out to the entrance. Snape arrived and barged through the doors.

"Albus, Potter is in the Hospital Wing. I had to take him out of the house because those muggles have abused him." Snape yelled at the old man.

"Oh no, how bad is he?" Dumbledore worried.

"Very bad. He has been neglected, abuse physically, sexually, and emotionally. Albus you never told me the boy was living in conditions like that." Snape sank down into his chair.

"Severus, I did tell you to try to get to know the boy. I knew his childhood has not been nice. I knew he was being abused, but I never imagined it could get as bad as that." Snape jumped out of his chair.

"You knew he was being abused, but never did anything about it," Snape yelled while staring at Dumbledore with a murderous expression.

"Yes, I did." Dumbledore said confidently.

"What's wrong with you?" An outraged Snape yelled.

"There was no one to take him for the summer. He can't stay here for the whole year," Dumbledore tried to reason with Snape.

"That's no excuse. What about Lupin? He's coming to teach he can watch the boy." Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "Lupin is not allow since he is a werewolf. The Ministry will not allow it."

"Then what about Molly? She loves the boy."

"Does she really need another mouth to feed?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

"Well, Potter needs someone now," Snape pointed out.

"I am too old for the job and so is Minerva. We have to give him to someone he is familiar with, so that leaves him with you." Dumbledore waited for the dark man in front of him to start protesting, but all he received was a glare.

"If you must give him to me I guess I have to accept." Snape was not happy about a Potter staying in his house, but once Albus has an idea he normally makes it happen.

"That's good, my boy. Let me get the guardian papers for you to sign and once that's done he is your ward." Dumbledore clapped his hands and smiled over to the dark haired man. With a twinkle in his eye.

"Then let me tell Potter the wonderful news," Snape sarcastically said.


	2. Health Problems

**Chapter Two**

 **Health Problems**

Harry Potter woke up in a bright white room. It was much larger than the cupboard and looked quite different. Not a minute after he woke up Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter," she cheerily said. _I must be in the hospital wing, but I can't remember how I got here or why I am here._ Harry thought to himself.

"Um… hello Madame Pomfrey," he replied while wincing.

"No talking dear, not until you drunk some water." The medi-witch gave him a cup of water and the small boy drank it greedily. Once the water was done the boy turned his attention back to the aging woman.

"Madame Pomfrey, why am I here? The last place I remember was being at my relatives' house." She came over and sat on his bed.

"Harry, Professor Snape took you out of your home. He came to check up on you, but instead found you hurt in the house," she explained.

"You were quite bad when Professor Snape brought you in. You are recovery from very bad injuries which will make you sore and you are recovering from a nasty cold." He gave her a nod and Madame Pomfrey put her hand on his shoulder. She gave him a gentle squeeze to tell him he is not alone and can lean on her. She figured the next thing she would ask him was not going to be easy for him.

"Do you remember anything that happened at your house the last few weeks?" The small boy looked up fearfully shaking his head.

"It's okay, dear, not everyone can remember a traumatic experience." She then got up and retreated to her office. The truth is Harry did remember everything that happened over the summer at the Dursley's. Harry was ashamed that two muggles could beat him so much that it landed him in the hospital wing. The muggles gave him far worse injuries than Voldemort had ever given him in a battle.

"What are my injuries, exactly?" Harry asked shyly. He wasn't thrilled about knowing the damage his uncle inflicted upon him, but it was his body and he had the right to know. Madame Pomfrey sighed and gave him a sad expression.

"Alright, your leg is broken and you had three broken ribs, but they are healed now. One rib was punctured into your lung which left you breathing problems. You also had a nasty case of pneumonia which damaged your immune system. You're going to get sick more often from now on. You also had many lacerations on your back and bottom."

Harry thought about it for a while. He knew that Madame Pomfrey wasn't telling him everything. He also thought about how much his uncle hurt him. His uncle not only damaged him that moment, but damaged him for the rest of his life. He would forever live the rest of his life with scars that man gave him and that awful memory that he did not even want to think about right now.

"What would I need to do to keep Potter healthy?" Snape asked while walk briskly over to the bed from the doors.

Snape had walked in the hospital wing when Harry asked the medi-witch what was wrong with him. Snape knew all his injuries and knew the woman was not telling him everything. It was better this way. Unfortunately that left him the job of telling the boy or waiting for Potter to come out with it on his own. Either way he now had to deal with the emotional scars those damn muggles left the poor boy.

"Why would I tell you?" The woman lashed out at him. Snape was prepared for the reaction. He knew Pomfrey was very protective of her patients, but this particularly patient she was even more protective of since Potter stayed here more frequently than any other student in the school.

"Because I am now his guardian for the time being." Harry looked up at Snape fearfully.

Harry couldn't believe Snape is going to be his guardian. Harry suddenly came to a realization. Would he have to live in Snape's house for the rest of the summer? He shivered at the thought of it.

"Does Dumbledore know about this?" Madame Pomfrey demanded glaring at Snape while putting her hands on her hip.

"Yes, he does. He was the one that suggested it. As of right now he is getting the necessary paperwork," the teacher answered back.

"Come into my office and I will give you an in depth explanation for his care. What could happen and how to resolve it."

Harry seemed a little upset that he couldn't hear about his health problems. Snape glanced over at the boy and saw the small frown on his face. He figured the pampered boy was upset about living with him. At that he suddenly looked away and headed for Pomfrey's office.

Snape was now sitting in Poppy's office while the lady was bustling around getting the supplies Snape was going to need for Harry.

"Poppy, what are you getting," Snape asked. He wanted to know about Potter now.

"I need to get all the supplies you may need for Harry. I already got the list of potions you need to make for Harry." Pomfrey continued bustling around.

"Can you tell me what I'm getting myself into?" Snape really wanted to know what he was getting himself into. He wanted to make sure he could handle Potter without help.

"Alright, Severus. Harry has a big list of potions. Some of them are only for a week or so, but the others will be taken away once I deem it okay. Harry needs a balm to help with the scaring. You're going to put it on him twice a day. A potion for his pneumonia, pain potions, fever reducers, and nutrition potions. His pneumonia potion is only until the cold passes. The pain potion is until the pain is more manageable level. He might need fever reducers. I will tell you when he can get off the nutrition potion. He will be having those before every meal. He might need a stomach soother potion, but wait until after he eats a meal. He will need a calming droughts when needed. Alternate between sleeping and dreamless sleep potions every night. He needs a lung infection potion until the infection is fought off. I think that is all the potions he may need for the time being unless you find something when he stays with you."

Snape drew in a breath and exhaled it very slowly. Harry has to take so many potions. It was hard for the dark man to keep his emotions at bay.

"There are a few more things you need to know. Harry was battling his illness while his lungs were punctured which later gave him the infection. His immune system was working overload because of this his immune system is shot and he won't be able to fight off simple colds. Severus he will get sick more often." The dark man gave her a nod in understanding.

"Is there anything else?" He asked. He could not think of anything else that would be wrong with him.

"Yes, he will need this." The healer showed the young man this blue plastic thing with a metal cylinder sticking out.

"What is it?" The teacher looked baffled which surprised him. Snape was one of those people that had an idea about everything in both the magical and muggle world. Not many people knew this about the man, but he grew up in the muggle world during his childhood.

"This device is an inhaler. It's supposed to help him open up his airways when he can't breathe." The plump witch explained.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Snape seemed to have an idea.

"Harry has asthma. He got it from the lung damage." _How many more problems does this boy have?_ Snape thought to himself.

"You're going to monitor him emotional." The healer interrupted Snape's thoughts.

"What should I be watching for?"

"Harry might be withdrawn for a bit. You should watch for depression and any self-harming habits. He could get angry, so watch to see any signs for anger management. Make sure he talks about his traumatic experience we don't want him to keep his problems to himself. It's unhealthy." Madame Pomfrey lectured.

"Alright, I will watch him. Thank you for all the advice I will try my best to keep him healthy." Snape got up to stand ready to make his exit. He has lots of potions to make.

"If you have any questions of if any problems arises you can floo me anytime," the healer offered clearly dismissing him.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind. Am I allow to take Harry to my quarters?"

"Yes, but he will be on bedrest for the week. After the week I want him to do light activities until I give him the okay."

Madame Pomfrey was very stern about these instructions. Snape gave her a brisk nod and left her office to collect his new ward.

After walking out of her office, Snape watched the boy with a thoughtful expression. Harry was sitting in his bed. Harry was a bit uncomfortable sitting in the bed, but Madame Pomfrey did say his bottom was going to be sore. Harry was fiddling with the thread on the blanket. Harry was taken from his relatives' house then sent to the school's infirmary to get healed up again. Though, what kept the frown on Harry's face was the fact that he now had to live with Snape. Snape was in charge of him. Why him? Why the most hated teacher? The greasy bat of the dungeons. Harry knew he was going to get thrown back into hell.

Snape figured the boy was musing in his self-pity. The boy was probably thinking how miserable his life will be when he starts living with Snape. Snape thought he was already formulating a story for his friends. He probably wanted his friends to rescue him from the evil grit and then after the rescuing he'll alert the Daily Prophet. Oh no, we all must feel sorry for The-Boy-Who-Lived. Well, Snape thought Harry will have none of it. He will have to deal with me.

"Come Potter it's time for us to go home." Snape said tossing some clothes to Harry startling the poor boy out of his thoughts.

"Home?" Harry asked from behind the curtain.

"Yes, my quarters which will be your new home for the time being."

' _Oh'_ thought Harry. Harry figured Snape did not have a real home.

"All done." Harry came out from the curtains.

"Ready?" Snape said raising his right eyebrow. Harry nodded looking down at his shoes.


	3. Recovering

Once Harry and Snape arrived in his quarters, Harry was amazed by how warm and comfortable Snape's quarters were. Harry thought Snape's quarters were going to be cold and dark like his classroom in the dungeons. He thought his rooms were going to be green and silver like his office was decorated. Harry never thought he would see shades of blue, white, and brown.

"You were expecting black." Snape had guessed by looking at Harry's expression.

"Well, sorta." Snape smirked.

"Come along. This is the living room over there is the kitchen." Snape said while pointing to his left the next room was filled with colours of blue and white. There is a small kitchen table that could serve three people comfortably. The living rooms is a nice shade of brown that made Harry feel warm and safe. There is a couch and two chairs all surrounded by a small table and the fireplace. Harry had a feeling he would like this room. Harry followed Snape down the hallway.

"Coming down the hallway is my room first and then your room on the right side of the hallway. Across from your bedroom is the bathroom. Now get into your bed because Madame Pomfrey told me she ordered you bedrest for the week. I do not wish that women to catch me not following her rules and neither would you," Snape said ending his tour.

"I'll be back when it's time for dinner. I will hopefully be done with half your potions."

Snape stepped out of the room leaving Harry in his bed. _'Bed rest'_ Harry thought. _'What will I do now?'_ Harry didn't have much. Actually he wondered if Snape brought over his trunk and Hedwig. He looked around the room and didn't see his trunk nor his owl. _'Maybe he didn't look in the second bedroom where Vernon put my stuff. I'll ask Snape when I see him.'_ It did not take long for Harry to drift into a much needed healing sleep.

Snape had almost the rest of the afternoon to make all of the potions Potter needed. As he was dicing his ingredients Snape thought about his revenge to the Dursleys for the treatment they put on Potter. He may not like the child, but the child did not deserve the unfortunate event that happened to him. He was glad to torture the Dursleys for Potter.

Snape never did like the idea of abuse. Any kind of abuse especially when it was inflicted upon children. Snape was a child that suffered abuse. His father turned into a drunk after his mother died. Snape's father blamed him for the death because of his magic. Physical abuse was what Snape suffered from which later led to emotional problems.

Yes, Snape knew what it felt like to be unwanted. As much as Snape did not want to have anything in common with Potter. He could not deny this similarity. He hopes Potter will not find out about his past.

Snape finished bottling the last potion. He quickly checked his watch and realized it was past six. He needs to check on Potter and call a house elf for dinner. Quickly he put all the bottle of potions Potter will need for the night in a basket and briskly walks to his quarters.

Mumbling the password to the portrait, he makes a beeline to Potter's room. Upon walking in the doorway, he finds a sleeping child in bed.

"Twinkle," Snape whispers out to thin air. A loud pop is heard in the hallway.

"Yes, master, sir." A squeaky voice is heard coming from an elf creature wearing a worn bath towel for a dress.

"I would like two bowl of chicken noddle soup, two small bowls of fruit, a cup of earl grey tea, and a cup of pumpkin juice." Snape ordered to the elf. The small elf blinked for a second then replied, "Yes, master, sir." The next thing that was heard was a pop and the elf disappeared.

Snape never did like house elves. Snape held pride in doing things for himself. He opposed extra assistance. Besides he never did like the fact that any creature to be enslaved. Every creature deserved freedom. Unfortunately, he could not do anything for the house elves. He knew it was their way for life and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Snape shook his head to clear his thoughts. His task right now was to wake up Potter without scaring him. He walked over to the bed.

"Mr. Potter, time to wake up," he called out quietly. He waited for a few seconds, nothing.

"Mr. Potter, time for dinner," he tried again talking a bit louder. The small boy never stirred.

"Harry, you need to wake up." This time Snape used his teacher's voice. Potter jumped up from his bed and his right arm flew out to search for his glasses. The next minute his glasses were on and the boy was looking at Snape.

"Um… Professor w-what are you doing here?" The small boy was confused. He could not understand why his potions professor woke him up. He also did not understand why he was in a comfortable bed.

"Because Potter, this is my quarters and you are staying in my guest room," the snarky man replied. Realization was filling into the boy's eyes. Flashes of everything that happened today rushed to the forefront of his mind. A loud pop cracked in the room disturbing the silence.

"Twinkle brought master his dinner, sir," the house elf squeaked.

"Thank you, Twinkle. Please put them on the bedside table." The elf obeyed and quickly vanished with a pop.

Snape transfigured a piece of paper into a chair, so he could sit next to Potter and enjoy his dinner. Harry looked at the two bowls that were sitting there and then at Snape. He was not sure if he was allowed to eat.

"What are you waiting for, eat!" Snape demanded.

Harry smiled he really did want to eat the meal in front of him. He dug in right away not thinking to cool the spoonful of soup causing him to burn his tongue. Snape smirked at the boy.

"Silly boy, if you eat soup quickly that was bound to happen."

Harry slowed down a bit, but still ate quickly. He was starving and he wanted food in him now. About halfway through his meal, Harry began feeling full and started to slow down which eventually stopped him completely. Snape noticed this and decided to give him his first potion of the night.

"Here Potter, drink this," he demanded. Harry looked at it briefly then shrugged his shoulders and took it. He knew what it was since he took it every time he went to the hospital wing.

"Can you not eat anymore?" Snape asked once Potter was done taking the potion. Harry looked down and then replied with a quiet no.

Snape called for Twinkle and told her to take the food. The small elf snapped her fingers making the food and herself disappear. He cast a quick spell to find out the boy's temperature Harry's temperature raised a couple of degrees since he left the hospital wing. Snape then pulled out a fever reducer from his basket.

"Take this," he demanded once again. Harry looked at it briefly and then drunk it down. It was another potion Harry remembered taking before.

Snape then sighed the next part Potter might not enjoy. He had to rub the salve on his wounds on his back and bottom. He hopes Potter won't panic too much.

"Madame Pomfrey has ordered me for the week to put salve on the wounds on your back and bottom to reduce the scaring. Since you cannot reach them I have to put the salve on. I promise I will be gentle." Snape said in a gentle voice. He used that voice only with his scared or damaged snakes.

Harry was a bit surprised and agreed quickly without thinking because so far Snape has been barking orders to him. Harry did not even know Snape could be that nice.

"Can you take off your shirt and trouser then lay on your stomach, please? You can leave your boxers on," he said in a calm gentle voice.

 _'Again he was nice and did I hear him say please. He never says please.'_ Harry thought. Harry did what his teacher asked of him and quickly without really thinking about what the man will be doing. Harry really had no idea that Snape was going to be touching his body in a minute.

"Mr. Potter I will now start applying the salve on your upper back and go downwards. You're allow to say stop when you need a break, but keep in mind the salve needs to be applied on all your scars."

Harry responded with a quick okay. Snape still saw that Potter was not afraid of his touch, so he proceed on very slowly.

"I am now going to apply the salve below your neck." At first touch, Harry flinched when Snape touched him. Severus stopped his movement for a second, so Harry could adjust then he rubbed the salve in very gently. It was like this until he got closer to Harry's bottom. He noticed the boy grow tense and his breathing quicken. Severus was thinking about saying something or even stopping, but he really needs to do this. If the boy said something he will stop.

Harry really did not like this at all. He heard Snape say he had to touch him to get the salve on, but he did not understand the concept. Snape kept creeping down and Harry started to feel uncomfortable.

"Potter I will now lower your shorts," Snape said quietly. Harry tried to not freak out, but it was really hard. He really did not want Snape touching him anywhere near there. All he could think about was his uncle and what he did that night to him.

"Potter do you want me to stop and give you a break?" Severus did not get a response, but only heard quick breathing. Severus was worried therefore stopped and fished out a bottle of calming draught.

"Potter, I'm going to feed you a calming draught." Severus urgently said while tipping Potter's head up. Snape knew there was no way Harry would be able to take the potion on his own, so it was his job to feed the potion to him. He began pouring the potion slowly into his mouth while massaging his throat, so Potter can swallow the potion without choking.

Once the potion was gone, Snape waited a few minutes for the potion to kick in. Harry was able to breathe freely once again. Harry saw Snape staring at him which made Harry feel uncomfortable.

"Are you calm now?" Snape asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Harry replied. "You should have told me to stop when you started to feel uncomfortable." Harry looked down shamefully.

"I'm sorry." Harry heard Snape sighed.

"It's alright. I'm just telling you next time it happens you should tell me." They both fell into a comfortable silence until Snape broke it.

"I need to finish. Is it alright for you if I continue?" Harry slowly nod. Harry was never going to be ready, but he knew it needs to be done. Snape finished the job quickly. It was a bit easier now since Harry was calm and not fighting his touch.

"I'm done. You can get dressed again." Snape excused himself, so he could wash his hands, but more importantly to give Potter some space. He came back a couple of minutes later and found Potter sitting in the bed.

"Alright, Potter one last potion to take then you can go back to sleep." Severus went to the basket and took a potion out.

"Here is dreamless sleep. Take it now and then you can fall asleep." Severus watched Potter take the potion and then the boy snuggled into the bed quickly falling asleep.


	4. Panic Attack

The next morning, Severus woke up and got ready like he normally did though instead of putting on his robes he put on a pair of black jeans and a green sweater. Instead of leaving his hair down Snape tied his hair back in a low ponytail. Severus had revised his summer plans now that Potter was staying with him. Instead of restocking the Hospital Wing like he planned, this week he will be writing his lesson plans, so he can watch Potter closely for the rest of the week.

Severus went to check on Potter quickly and noticed he was fine. Snape proceed to go walk down to the kitchen. Instead of having Twinkle make breakfast Severus made the breakfast. Normally he gave the small elf the morning off. Severus decided to make oatmeal for Potter and for himself he was making eggs and pancakes. Once the food was done he put all the plates on a tray. He started making coffee for himself and poured a glass of pumpkin juice for the boy. He also started cutting a variety of fruit putting the pieces in two small bowls. Finally all the coffee was done and Severus put both the glasses and dishes of fruit on the tray. Severus walked into Potter's bedroom to find the boy missing from the bed. _'Maybe the boy woke up and went to the bathroom.'_

While Severus was in the kitchen making breakfast Harry woke up in an unfamiliar room. Harry did not know where he was and started to panic. Last thing Harry remembered was being in the hospital wing. _'Maybe my uncle came and took me back, but Madame Pomfrey would never allow that.'_ Harry thought while in a panic. Harry looked around the room to try to find a place to hide. Harry saw a closet and ran in there. He retreated to the corner with the most stuff. He hid himself behind all the clothes in the closet.

Harry started to panic thinking his uncle was going to find him and beat him. He heard the footsteps, but those footsteps retreated away. Harry felt much better once he found out the threat was gone. About ten minutes later, Harry heard the footsteps again his breath hitched and he started panicking. The footsteps just seem to be getting louder. _Oh no, Uncle Vernon will find me and he will start beating me for not making breakfast._ The door opened slowly and Harry squeezed himself in the corner with his eyes shut trying to make himself as small as possible.

"Harry?" Snape called out. Harry began to shake. Harry through his panic thought the familiar voice belonged to his uncle. He tried to make himself look invisible trying to focus all his magic to make it happen, but it never did. Harry knew it wouldn't and he was going to get beaten.

"Harry," Snape said more confident. Snape knew Harry was hiding in the closet. Harry didn't budge when he called his name out. Harry started to realize his chest was hurt. _Where did this pain come from?_

"Potter," Snape yelled urgently. Snape was concern now. He already figured out Harry was panicking over something, but he didn't know what. All Snape knew is the Harry was working himself up and was already started to hyperventilate.

Snape walked into the closet and automatically kneeled in the front of the boy. Snape pulled out a calming draught, uncorked the vail, proceed to open the boy's mouth to feed him the potion. Harry was quite confused why someone was touching him and forcing him to drink something. This sent Harry into more of a panic than before. All Harry heard was someone mumbling under their breath.

"Potter, breathe with me. In…out…in…match my breaths. Nice and calm. In…out…in…out…" Snape said soothing.

Harry by now is sitting between Snape's legs. Snape could feel Harry was not responding at all. Snape felt the boy struggling to breathe. Snape wasn't sure if the boy was having a panic attack or an asthma attack. For the first time Snape felt clueless. Snape didn't know how to take care of him. He didn't have time to call Madame Pomfrey, so instead he picked up the necklace and held the pendent. It was an emergency pendant from his personal healer. It was given to him back when he was fighting in the war and had to go to those Death Eater meetings. When he came back from those meetings he usually had to call his healer because he was injured in some kind of way physical or emotional. Snape felt uncomfortable having a stranger help Harry. At least the stranger was a healer.

"Severus, are you okay?" A man yelled urgently from another room.

"Yes, I'm fine, but I have a student who needs your help." Snape loudly spoke while using a calming voice. He hoped he didn't scare the boy too much.

"Where are you?" The man asked while walking down the hallway.

"In the guest bedroom, in the closet." Snape called out using a soothing voice. There was a moment of silence and hurried footsteps. The healer barged in quickly and assessed the scene in front of him.

"Have you given him a calming draught?" The healer said professionally. Snape gave him nod and a look that said 'duh that was the first thing I did.'

"I'm not sure if it is a panic attack or an asthma attack." Snape told the healer uncertainly.

"Whatever, it is. It is too late now. The medicine would not work. Give the child to me and I will do my magic." The healer sat down on the floor and Snape transferred Harry over to the healer.

Harry's breathing quickened as soon as he felt someone else's hands on him. "Shh, shh…I'm a healer and I am going to lay my hands on your head and chest. You are going to feel tingling, but it won't hurt. It will make you feel better." The healer said in a soothing voice to the little scared boy.

The healer laid his hand on the child and slowly let the healing magic do its work. The healer could feel how distressed the child is, but he could also feel the child's breathing is raspy which meant the child is also having an asthma attack on top of a panic attack. The healer put more healing magic into the child, the healer felt the child was fighting the magic. The child simply was not calming down.

"Severus can you talk to him. He is fighting my magic."

Snape crawled in front of Harry, so the boy could see him. "Mr. Potter, you are safe here. No one is going to hurt you. The healer only wants to calm you down. No one will hurt you. You're uncle isn't here." Snape had a hunch that Harry might be upset because he had a stranger touching him.

Harry was finally able to calm down on his own. Harry stopped fighting the healer's magic and practically went to sleep. The healer noticed this and sent some energy magic into Harry to wake him up. Harry whimpered a little at having to wake up. If the two men were not focused on Harry so intently then the two men would have missed the small cry Harry gave out.

"I know, child. You don't want to wake up, but now it is time to talk to us." The healer said while moving Harry to sit beside him.

"Harry what happened? Why were you in the closet?" Snape started the questioning.

Harry felt scared all the sudden. He felt like he was going to get in trouble for getting scared waking up in an unfamiliar place. The healer could feel Harry start to panic again.

"Calm down, child. Whatever you tell us is not going to get us mad. Severus just wants to know what made you so scared you felt you had to hide from him." The healer gently explained. Harry hesitated for a moment, but finally told the two men what happened.

"I woke up and didn't know where I was. I thought my uncle got mad at me for tattling and took me somewhere. So I got up and try to hide somewhere, so he couldn't find me." Harry explained.

"Were you afraid that you were going to get hurt, Harry?" Snape asked quietly. Harry nod his head.

"Harry, you don't have to worry about your relatives ever finding you again. I will not allow them to take you away and you will never go back to your relatives." Snape said sternly to Harry to prove how serious he was about the topic.

Snape looked over to the healer. Snape wanted answers from him about Harry's episode. Snape waited until he talked to Harry, but now Snape really wanted to know.

"Your name is Harry, right?" The healer asked. Harry gave a tentative nod.

"Alright Harry, my name is Healer Williams, but you can call me Charlie. I am Severus's personal healer." The middle aged healer introduced himself. He looked much older than Snape. He had short white hair and short white beard. He was somewhat overweight. Harry thought he looked like a younger Santa Claus.

"Harry can I check your chest? It must hurt after panicking earlier. Afterwards, you can eat some breakfast." The healer commanded.

Harry automatically nodded. The healer picked up Harry and put him on his lap.

"First, I'm going to put my hands on your chest and check using my healer magic. Next, I will bring you over to your bed and check you the muggle way." Healer Williams explained.

The healer let his magic go and checked Harry's breathing and chest. Harry's wheezing stopped which made the healer smile, but the lung infection the child has seems to worsen. The healer has to tell Snape about the lung infection.

"Harry, I'm going to pick you up now to take you to the bed." The healer gently reached out to pick up the child. The healer frowned when he picked up the child. Harry was too light for a child his age, but he will have to deal with that at another time.

"Harry, I want to make sure you are okay. I'm going to get my stethoscope and you will take deep breathes for me when I put the stethoscope on your chest." The healer explained while silently accioing his stethoscope.

Harry started to get scare again. Harry had never been to a muggle doctor and he was not sure what the strange instrument will do.

"Harry, Harry calm down. What is the matter?" The healer asked noticing Harry's frightened look.

"Will it hurt?" Harry timidly asked.

"Harry, have you ever gone to a muggle doctor before?" The healer asked instead of answering Harry's question. Harry shook his head. The healer was slowly understanding that the child was more than abused. The poor child was also neglected. This is going to be a very difficult case. The healer had a feeling he will be coming to heal Harry often and he wasn't talking about physical wounds.

"It's okay. I'll have Severus here show you that it does not hurt." Snape walked over to the bed silently and sat down.

"Severus you know the drill. Take the shirt off." Charlie automatically told him.

Snape did not kindly take having to take off his shirt in front of the boy. Even having to be an example for the boy. Though, Snape was upset that the boy's relatives never took him to the doctor's office when he was in their care. That was why Snape was willingly being an example for the boy. It wasn't the boy's fault. It was his relatives.

"Now Harry, I will place the stethoscope on Severus chest and tell him to breathe in a deep breath." Snape took a deep breath. "Then I will tell him to breathe out." Snape proceeded to breathe out.

"This helps me to tell if Severus is healthy." The child watched in amazement.

"Now it's your turn." The healer said with encouragement.

"Take your shirt off." The child was reluctant to do it, but slowly he took the shirt off.

"Now this may be cold, but it won't hurt." The healer put the stethoscope on the child's chest.

"Deep breath in…now out…deep breath in…and out. Good job." The healer smiled at Harry.

"Now I am going to put the stethoscope on your back and listen to your lungs back there." The healer went to stand behind him and noticed right away why the child was reluctant to take his shirt off. He quickly ignored the sight of his back and continued his job.

"Deep breath in…now out…deep breath in…and out. Good, good. Everything sounds great." The healer said while he rummaged around his pocket for the lung infection potion.

"Your lung infection concerns me. Take the potion now and then eat your breakfast. I want you to take the lung infection potion every hour." The healer explained giving Harry his potion.

Harry took the potion quickly and gave the healer his potion vail back. While Snape was putting Harry's food tray on Harry's lap. Harry decided to quickly put his shirt back on.

"Mr. Potter, I gave you some fruit, pumpkin juice, and some oatmeal." Harry immediately started eating his breakfast. He was very hungry now that he no longer felt scared. Everything went back to normal like nothing ever actually happened. Harry didn't even noticed that Snape left his breakfast tray on the night table and slipped out of the room with the healer.

 **Author's Note:** _As you can sort of figure out Harry is treated much younger in this story. As I continue writing I have found that Harry is between his 2_ _nd_ _year and 3_ _rd_ _year at Hogwarts. I have yet to figure out which year he will begin at the end of summer. All I know is he is going to be treated as a young kid, but he is actually a young teenager. The reasoning for this is Harry has always been abused and neglected, so now that he has been rescued by Snape Harry's maturity will be set back a bit. He will act as a 9 or 10 year old child. Since Harry's injuries and health is going to be a major factor in this story he physically will look like a 10 year old because of the malnourishment, at least until he starts getting healthy and actually growing. I have also come to realization as I continue writing that Voldemort will not make an appearance. Most likely I will end when Harry's summer ends. At this time I have no idea if there will be a sequel. Sorry for those readers who wanted Voldemort in the story, this story is strictly just getting Harry healthy and teaching Harry to trust adults. This will all come to play later when he starts for his next school year._


	5. A Little Freedom

As Harry was eating breakfast, Healer Williams and Snape were in the next room talking about Harry's health.

"Charlie, please tell me what you learned about Harry." Severus demanded.

"Harry had a panic attack that much is clear, but somehow his panic attack triggered an asthma attack. The calming draught you gave him helped, but he was too hyped up that he needed a higher dose to put him asleep or a healer. I'm glad you called me." The healer explained while giving Severus a smile.

"What concerns me is his emotional scars. As I was calming him down, I did a brief mental check on him. Harry was hurt very badly. The abuse he suffered is as bad as yours." The healer said in a serious voice. He was very concern for the child.

He knew how long it took Severus to trust people around him to help him heal. It took almost 7 years for the man to finally heal. Sometimes Severus still regresses back and tries to prove he doesn't need help. The healer just hope that Harry isn't as difficult as Severus was. Harry is fairly young maybe it will be easier.

Severus nod absentmindedly at the healer. Snape agreed a hundred percent. Snape knew the boy was one of the worst abuse cases he had seen in his career at Hogwarts. Snape also knew the boy's childhood was very much the same as his, but worst. At least Snape had some form of a parent's love when he was young. Harry had no concept of anyone loving him.

"Harry's abuse is worse. I never got raped. I also had some form of love from a parent. Harry never had that." Snape stated. The healer was slightly surprised, but he didn't show it. That was part of his training. The healer had to show emotion later.

"I would like to have him under my care. I'm sure Poppy patched Harry up beautifully, but we both know Poppy is great for physical wounds not emotional ones. She simply does not have the training for this." The healer explained.

"I agree with you. Harry would heal better under your care." Snape responded.

"Now before we check on Harry. I have to stress to you the importance of giving Harry the lung infection potion every hour. Somehow from the panic attack his lung infection became worse. We need to stay on top of this before it gets even worse." The healer said seriously. Snape nod telling the healer he understood.

"Good, now I have been far too serious for the day. Let's go check on Harry.

The two men walked to Harry's room to see if he was done with his breakfast. They found Harry done with most of breakfast and he was sound asleep across his bed. The healer immediately spelled another lung infection potion to Harry's stomach since he was due for his next dose.

"He also needs to take a nutrition potion, fever reducer, the pneumonia potion, and a pain potion." Snape rattled off while he picked up the salve to rub onto his scars. The healer continue spelling potions into Harry. The healer knew not to respond, he knew Severus was focused on taking care of the child and did not need his reassurances.

Over the week, Harry slowly got better. It was a step-by-step process. By the end of the week Harry was anxious to get out of bed.

"Snaaapppeee, can I get out of bed already," Harry whined.

Harry was slowly coming out of his shell too. Every once in a while like right now Harry would act like a typical teenager.

"Not yet, I need to check your temperature." Snape said.

"But Madame Pomfrey said I could get out of bed today." Harry replied back.

"She did, but remember what Charlie told you. Only if your temperature was normal and after he check you over." Snape said while walking over to Harry's bed.

"Now make some room for me." Harry scooted over and made room for Snape. They just finished eating breakfast together in Harry's room. Harry was so excited he wanted to show Snape he was all better and ate everything on his plate. Harry was extremely full and felt a little sick.

Snape took the thermometer out and placed it underneath Harry's tongue. He waited only a couple of minutes and pulled it out.

"What is it?" Harry asked as soon as the thermometer came out.

"37 degrees." (98.7 degrees) Snape answered back.

"That means I can get out of bed now," Harry exclaimed.

"Not yet." The healer spoke as he came walking in the room.

"You know my rules. If you break them then it's another day." The healer teased.

"Do you really believe I would let him break any rules?" Snape joked with the healer.

"No, I don't believe you would, but we have a troublemaker sitting in here." The healer turned to Harry. The healer effortlessly picked him up as the healer sat on the bed and positioned Harry between his legs.

"I'm not a troublemaker. Somehow trouble finds me." Harry retorted back.

"Yes, I know. You do nothing wrong. What was his temperature, Severus?" The healer asked.

"37 degrees. Nice and healthy." Snape said satisfied by his good work.

"We'll see, Harry you know the drill." Harry was prepared. The healer put his hand on Harry's chest and forehead and started slowly sending healer magic into Harry. Harry felt so calm he instantly felt like going to sleep. After a few minutes, the healing magic changed and Harry felt this renewed energy.

"No falling asleep on me, Harry. Everything seems to be good. His pneumonia and lung infection are almost gone. He will only need a few more doses of the potions, Severus. I would still give him the pain potion since his muscles are still achy. I think we can start physical therapy soon." The healer explained to Snape.

"Now Harry, does your stomach feel a little sick?" The healer knew the answer right away, but he wanted Harry to answer.

"Yes," the child replied shyly.

"Why is that?" The healer asked.

"I ate too much." The child answered while his face turned a nice shade of red.

"We talked about this Harry. Eating more does not mean you are healthy. You only eat the portion of food that is right for your body. We know what happens when we eat too much." The healer admonished Harry.

"He'll need a stomach soother. His stomach is a bit upset today." The healer directed to Snape.

The potion master quickly stepped out of the room to gather the necessary potions. The healer once again turned to Harry.

"Did Severus put your salve on today?" The healer asked. Harry immediately turned red and silently shook his head. Harry hated this part. Harry felt so embarrassed that the men still had to put the salve on three times a day.

"Alright Harry, I'm going to put the salve on right now. Why don't you take your shirt off?" The healer said calmly while putting a hand on the child's shoulder and releasing some calming magic.

Both men had to put salve on Harry's scars. Harry still had panic attacks over the men touching him. It was better to give Harry calming draughts before putting the salve on. That way Harry would not freak out as much. It didn't take long to put the salve on. The healer sent calming magic to Harry every time Harry started panicking.

"All done, Harry." The healer said joyfully.

"Severus, you may come in now." The healer knew Snape was outside the closed door. Harry put his shirt on quickly and waited patiently for his potions. One by one Snape gave potions to Harry, which Harry swallowed as fast as Snape gave it to him.

"Alright, here are my rules. You are allowed out of bed for half a day. After two in the afternoon you better be in this bed resting. When you are out of the bed you are allowed to do light activities like reading a book. If you feel unwell you will tell Severus right away and get into bed. Do you understand?"

The healer explained the rules. Harry was slightly upset. He thought he could be out of bed all day, not half a day. At least it was better than nothing.

"Yes, sir." Harry said as he jumped out of bed. Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but he ran straight to the living room. Both of the men started laughing when they witness Harry's excitement.

"I think he hates being confined to his bed as much as you do." The healer laughed.

"I believe so," Snape responded back. Snape started walking to the living room. He was greeted with a bouncing boy on his couch. Potter was so full of life, full of energy.

"Can you play chess with me?" Harry asked both men. Harry didn't care who played with him. He just wanted to play with someone.

"I think I can play a short game with you, Harry." Healer Williams answered.

"Don't you have other patients?" Snape said trying to push him out.

"My next appointment isn't for another hour. Besides I work too much. I need some fun in my life." Charlie responded.

"From what I heard around the halls, Harry is horrible at chess." Snape said giving Charlie some advice.

A few hours later, it was lunch time. Charlie left not too long after the chess game. Charlie did in fact win the game. He also gave Harry advice for the next game they would play together.

"Potter, it's time for lunch." Snape called from the kitchen. Harry didn't respond, so Snape went to check on him. Snape walked out to the living room and saw Harry laying on the floor playing with the chess pieces. The boy ended up controlling the figures to attack each other. It was like a war.

"Come on knights. Protect your king." Harry shouted at the chess pieces. It looked like the boy was having a lot of fun. He even created a wall for the knights and a small castle for each of the kings.

"Harry, it's time for lunch," Snape said while he crouched down beside him.

"Oh, is it that late." Harry asked in surprise

"Yes, it is that late. You must be pretty hungry."

"Crease your attacks." Harry commanded. The chess pieces immediately stopped. Harry got up and walked to kitchen with Snape. Already on the table was tray of sandwiches, a large bowl of fruit, and a pot of soup. Harry grabbed a sandwich and scooped some fruit on his plate. He took a bite of the sandwich and realized it was chicken salad.

"I love chicken salad!" The boy exclaimed.

"I made an assortment of sandwiches. I wasn't sure what you liked." The man told the boy. Snape started scooping some soup into a bowl and placed it in front of Harry.

"Eat some soup. Its vegetable soup made from scratch." Snape said while taking a spoonful himself.

Harry took a spoonful of soup. As soon as he tasted the soup his eyes widen. It was delicious.

"You made this?" Harry asked as he swallowed.

"Yes, I did." Snape answered

"No way! It's so good! Can you teach me how to make this?" Harry asked.

"Why would I do that?" Snape exclaimed. "You're not very good at potions. I doubt you have the patience to cook food." Snape assumed.

"I'm actually really good at cooking. I cooked all the meals at the Dursleys. Except I could never make soup right. I couldn't get the broth right." Harry said while his was thinking of a vivid memory in the past.

Snape couldn't believe Harry said all of that in front of him. Snape doubted Harry even knew he revealed anything about his home life. In fact, Snape believes Harry is stuck in some past memory of his time with his relatives.

"You are right. You probably couldn't get the broth right. The key of soup is a good broth. I could show you how to make it." Snape said breaking Harry from his memory.

"Really, you would do that?" Harry asked his eyes filled with hope.

"Yeah, the next time I make soup. You know it's time lot like potions, cooking that is." Snape said.

"Especially soup," Snape added. They were nearing the end of lunch. Harry ate the whole bowl of soup, the sandwich, and some fruit.

Snape pulled some potions out of his pocket. It was the same potions he always had the nutrition potion, lung infection potion, stomach soother, and pain potion.

"I need the stomach soother potion." Harry said in surprise.

"After this morning, you may need it. I only want to be on the safe side." Snape said uncorking the vails.

"I think I will be fine." Harry said bravely.

"You will still take it." Snape said firmly. Harry knew there was no way to get out of taking it. Harry knew if he started refusing his potions than Snape would call for Healer Williams and he would lose the fight because the healer would win very easily. The healer knew some nasty spells that would force his patients to take nasty potions. Harry took the potions Snape lined up on the table and downed all them in least than a minute.

"Alright Harry, you are excused now. You can pick a book and sit on the couch for the next hour. When I done cleaning in here I'll come out and check your temperature." Snape explained. Harry nod and jumped off the chair running to the next room.

The house elf popped the food away, but left the container of food and empty dishes. Severus prided himself in doing things the Muggle way. Severus made a deal with the house elf about making food for himself and cleaning afterwards. The house elf would collect the food and save it in a container while Severus cleaned the dishes.

Severus was done after 15 minutes. He walked over to the living room and saw Potter reading a book. The chess set was already cleaned up, so Severus figured Potter cleaned it up before he started reading his book. Maybe Potter wasn't so lazy after all. Actually while Severus was thinking about it Potter was fairly quiet and kept to himself busy. Severus cleared his throat to alert Potter that he was in the room.

"You know the drill, make some room for me." Snape said. Snape accioced the thermometer. The thermometer flew from Potter's room to Snape's hand within a second.

"Open up," Snape simply said. Harry did as he was told. After a few minutes, Snape took the thermometer out.

"38 degrees (99 degrees), it went up one degree. I'll let you sit here for another 40 minutes, but then it's off to bed for a nap." Snape told Harry. Snape pulled out a fever reducer from his pocket and gave it to Potter.

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick?" Snape asked Potter in concern while Potter gulped down the potion.

"I wasn't feeling sick. I felt the same. Maybe a little tired after lunch." Harry said honestly after finishing his potion.

"Alright, it's not a bad fever. I'm sure the fever reducer already did its job, but I don't want to take chances. You are going to have a nap." Snape told him seriously. Harry gave him a nod in agreement and then went back to reading his book. Truth be told Harry was relieved that he was allowed to take a nap. He really was feeling tired.

Not too long later, Snape interrupted the silence.

"Potter it's time to go back to your bedroom. I'll meet you there in a minute to put the salve on," Snape told him.

Harry got up and returned the book where he found it. Harry then started walking to his room. Snape went the other direction to the spare cupboard where he kept all the potions for his quarters. Snape picked up a calming draught for the boy and continued his way to the boy's room to give him the potion right away.

"How long do we have to do this?" Potter curiously asked.

"Until there are no more scars," Snape responded.

"Aren't they healed already?" Potter whined.

"If they were, we wouldn't still be putting salve on still." Snape said in his normal 'I am always right' teacher's voice. Harry knew that type of voice. It always made him feel stupid.

"I'm going to ask Charlie tomorrow," Harry said like it was a challenge. Harry wanted to prove to Snape that he didn't need the salve anymore. He hated when Snape or the healer put the salve on him. It made him think of what _they_ did to him.

"Fine, go ahead." Snape said easily. Harry figured Snape already knew it was pointless. "I bet he will say the same thing. Foolish Gryffindor." Snape said while he reached out to ruffle the boy's hair in an affectionate way. ' _Did I just ruffle his hair? Stop it, Severus! You are going soft,'_ Snape thought.

"Stop stalling now. Take off your shirt and trousers then lay on your stomach." Snape barked out orders trying to forget the previous gesture.

Harry followed his orders like nothing happened. Snape started the process going as quick as possible. Snape massaged the salve on with gentle hands. Snape could feel Harry starting to tremble and his breathing started to pick up. Harry started making a whining noise like he was about to start crying. Snape stopped massaging the salve into his scars.

"Harry are you okay?" Snape asked opting to use his first name instead. He didn't want the boy to go in a further panic. There was no response, so Snape looked over at him. Harry was really breathing fast and his eyes were looking a bit unfocused.

"Do you need your inhaler, Harry?" Snape asked feeling clueless. Snape only remembered that last time Harry was having a panic attack and an asthma attack at the same time. Harry gave a small nod and Snape sighed in relief. At least the child wasn't too far gone in his panic. Snape accioced his inhaler and helped Harry with the inhaler. Harry took the inhaler to his mouth and pushed down on the metal cylinder.

After a few seconds, Harry started to breathe clearly on his own. Harry started to pull the inhaler out of his mouth, but Snape grabbed his hand and pushed the inhaler back to his mouth.

"One more puff. Pomfrey said two puffs." Snape automatically pushed the metal cylinder of the inhaler which Harry was forced to breathe in. Snape assessed Harry over and realized after a minute that he was breathing much easier now.

"Can we continue applying the salve?" Snape asked. Harry gave a shaky nod. Harry really dreaded the whole situation, but he figured they were almost done and he did not want to drag the whole thing out. Snape finished quickly and left Harry to take his nap.

 **Author's Note -** _Please don't bite my head off or leave me mean comments. I know that when you have a panic attack people can't just use an inhaler and the panic attack ends. I do have asthma and I do suffer from panic attacks. Sometimes when I use my inhaler for a minor panic attacks, like Harry's, I can catch my breath when I am starting to panic. Not saying this works on everyone, but in this story I am having Harry use the inhaler to help relieve his panic attack. At least this time. Hope you like the new chapter. Keep reviewing. It keeps me motivated._


	6. A Moment of Truth

That night Severus contacted Charlie to tell him about the drama from the afternoon. Severus didn't have problems with him later that night and he was thankful for that. The healer told Severus that he would stop by first thing early in the morning.

"Next time this happens Severus, you need to contact me right away. He is sick so often, I need to make sure he won't get another lung infection or any other disease." The healer chastised him.

"I understand." Severus responded accepting the chastisement.

The next morning Severus woke up early and ordered breakfast. This morning they were having omelets and pancakes. After that task was finished, he woke up Harry.

"Harry, it's time to wake up." Severus said while shaking him awake. 'When did I start calling him Harry? Oh, merlin, I am getting soft. That boy is going to be the death of me,' Severus thought. Harry woke up right away when Severus called his name.

"Get dress and meet me in the kitchen." Harry gave a nod to Severus.

Snape came back out to the kitchen and spotted Charlie already sitting at the table serving himself food. Severus was not surprised to see Charlie sitting there, but he was surprised and a little ticked off that Charlie was grabbing food for himself.

"I'm glad you feel welcome." Snape commented.

"It was sitting here and despite being a healer and knowing how wrong it is skip breakfast I usually leave without having breakfast. You don't want to deprave me from being healthy." The healer replied back sarcastically. Snape just rolled his eyes. Harry walked out of his room and was greeted seeing both the men sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Sit down, Harry. Today we are having omelet and pancakes." Severus invited Harry.

Harry sat down at the table. Severus already put food on Harry's plate before he came down he also already lined up his potions in front of his plate. Harry looked down at his plate surprised at seeing food already there. He had one omelet and a small stack of pancakes. Harry began eating and pretty soon he felt full he could only eat half an omelet and one pancake. He is still having problems eating rich food. After giving up on eating knowing he will get sick if he ate any more food, Harry automatically took his potions.

"All finished there Harry?" Charlie asked Harry.

"Uh-huh, I couldn't eat anymore. I'm full." Harry said patting his small stomach.

"I hope you didn't overeat." Charlie said kidding with him.

"Not this time." Harry said with a frown. Charlie saw the frown and wish the boy had more confidence in himself.

"Harry I was only kidding with you. Though I am glad to hear you know when to listen to your stomach. Now how about we move over to the couch where I can give you a quick exam." The healer told him suddenly acting professional. All three of the men walked to the living room taking a seat on the couch.

"I heard from a little birdy that your temperature went up by one degree and you also had an asthma attack." The healer explained to Harry while giving Severus a wink at the same time when Harry wasn't looking.

"Yeah, but it was nothing. I'm fine now," Harry shrugged.

"Fine, you were not fine yesterday afternoon." Severus interrupted in outraged. Severus couldn't believe Harry could say that. Didn't he care about his health at all?

"Relax, Severus. Let me take care of this," Charlie put his hand on Severus's arm to calm him down.

"I know you believe you were fine, but I would like to check myself to see if you are healthy now. It is my job." Charlie told Harry seriously while putting in a little humor to not get him too upset. Charlie wanted Harry to know he can allow other people to help, but he also didn't want the boy to be upset because he said something wrong.

Charlie easily picked up Harry and put Harry on his lap. He put one hand on the boy's chest and the other hand on his forehead.

"First, I am going to magically scan you and then I will switch and check you the muggle way. Sound like a plan?" The healer explained to Harry.

"Sounds like a plan," Harry repeated agreeing with Charlie as he felt the tingling healing magic. The magic always made Harry feel safe and warm.

The healer could feel that Harry was still wheezing a little bit. Besides the wheezing, the healer could feel Harry's temperature is slightly up. The good thing is Harry recovered from his infection. Except he will mention to Severus to watch Harry's fever. He didn't want Harry to get sick so soon after he finally recovered. Charlie changed the tingling healing magic into energizing magic to wake up Harry.

Harry is prone to falling asleep during his exams. Though Harry wasn't the only patient that fell asleep on him. Charlie had many patients, mostly his more fragile patients, have sensitivity to magic and more likely had this problem and Harry was definitely fragile.

"Now it's time for the muggle exam. Are you awake for this, Harry?" Charlie asked watching Harry slowly wake up. Harry gave him a nod to show the healer his is fully awake.

"Alright Harry let's take your temperature first." Charlie popped the thermometer in Harry's mouth. While Charlie was waiting he pulled out a stethoscope.

"Okay let's see what your temperature is." Charlie said pulling out the thermometer. "Still 38 degrees," Charlie announced. Charlie gave Severus a knowing look that meant he was going to have a conversation later about Harry's results.

"Alright, I'm going to listen to your lungs." Charlie told Harry. Charlie still told Harry step by step directions knowing Harry's background. Besides this was the only way to keep Harry calm throughout the exam.

"I'm just going to listen to your lungs. Just breathe normally for me right now. I'll tell you when to take deep breaths." Charlie explained while listening to Harry's lungs very carefully.

Charlie knew he was still wheezing from the earlier exam, but he wanted to know how bad the wheezing was from the stethoscope. Charlie loved the healing magic for many reasons, but for certain things like listening to lungs after an asthma attack the muggle medical way was still the best. So far the Charlie only heard a slight wheeze which was a good sign.

"Now take a deep breath," Charlie directed Harry. "And release it. One more time Harry." Harry followed his orders mindlessly. Charlie finally put the stethoscope away and pulled out an inhaler from his bag.

"The only bad news I have for you is take two puffs from that inhaler every two hours. I heard a slight wheeze when I was listening to your lungs." Charlie explained to Harry.

Harry pretty much knew the results before the healer started his exam. Harry silently took the inhaler and took the two puffs. He knew there were still side effects from the attack last night. He could still feel it in his chest every time he took a deep breath. Harry tossed the inhaler back to Charlie when he was done with it and Charlie packed it away. Charlie carried a spare inhaler in his bag labeled as Harry's. He always had a spare, so he is prepared for any emergency. Charlie pulled out a fever reducer for Harry to take.

"Now for the part you hate. I know Severus didn't put any salve on your scars today." Charlie said with a frown.

Charlie picked up Harry and put him on his lap. Severus was already prepared with the salve. Charlie already started releasing his calming magic on Harry the moment he made skin contact. He was in charge of keeping Harry calm while Severus put the salve on Harry.

This time Charlie released enough calming magic to put Harry asleep. He knew it would be impossible to get Harry to take a nap so early in the morning, but he was in a desperate need to rest his body. Charlie didn't want Harry to get sick so soon and with this stubborn fever he will not take any chances.

"Did you really have to put him to sleep, so we can talk privately?" Severus sarcastically said.

"I only put him to sleep, so he wouldn't get sick. Though it is helpful not to have him eavesdropping during our conversation," Charlie said jokingly catching on to Severus's sarcasm.

"So what did you want to talk about," Severus asked uncertain while he finished putting salve on Harry.

"I'm concern about Harry's insistent fever. I really don't want him to get sick so soon. I want you to give him a fever reducer every couple of hours. I really want to get rid of this fever, so I can clear him for physical therapy." Charlie said professionally while letting out his concern for the boy.

"I understand, besides the two puffs on his inhaler and the potion every few hours, he is fine," Severus asked.

"Yes, he is fine. He should wake up in a couple of hours. He can stay in bed until after lunch to rest and then he can do light activities for the rest of the day." The healer ordered.

"I understand. Harry wanted to ask you a question, but he never had a chance to ask you. He wanted to know how long we need to put salve on his scars." Severus asked for Harry. Actually Severus wanted to know the answer himself because he hated seeing Harry that vulnerable, not to mention all the pain the child is going through from his flashbacks.

"The scars are healing very well. Probably within the next few days we can stop." Charlie answered.

"That's good. Harry will be so happy when I tell him." Severus commented.

"I was wondering when I could take Harry to Diagon Ally to get some new clothes and toys? I don't really have anything to entertain him." Severus asked.

"If his fever comes down we can go tomorrow. As long as I can come along with you to watch him." Charlie said giving him permission with an incentive.

"Great, I'll tell Harry over lunch." The two men talked for a little bit about other things. Eventually Charlie look at his watch and realized he had to leave to go to another appointment. He excused himself and disappeared through the fireplace.

Severus occupied himself by brewing potions. He casted a spell to alert him when Harry woke up. Once Harry did wake up, Severus was able to leave his potion for a short bit and give Harry his next potion and to remind him to use his inhaler.

He told Harry he can start his summer homework or to read a book, but he had to stay in his bed until after lunch. Harry wasn't too thrilled about hearing the news. Severus also told Harry he would be in his lab brewing potions and if he needed anything to just tell Twinkle. She will rely the message to him.

Harry ended up grabbing his school books and started doing his homework. Harry never had the freedom to do homework during the summer. He was going to take the opportunity to get started on his homework instead of waiting until the last minute. Beyond popular belief, Harry was not a procrastinator or a student that slacked on his work. Harry did care about his work and wanted to get good grades. He was no Hermione obsessing over getting top grades, but he wasn't like Ron either who waited until the last minute to do his homework. He was Harry, he was his own person, not someone who everyone imagined The-Boy-Who-Lived would act like.

Harry thought he had an unfair advantage since he started school. Since the school found out the The-Boy-Who-Lived attended Hogwarts, the Wizarding World let him, a little boy, handle all the problems and evil the world has to offer. Harry was sick of it. The Wizarding World never once thought that The-Boy-Who-Lived was actually a boy and a student at school. A student who has homework to do and tests to study for to pass school. No one cared, so Harry was left with hardly no time to do his school work. Most of the time he did his school work last minute and hoped he would pass. That was why all his work was average. Just imagine what his work will be like when he actually has time.

Harry took out his Defense against the Dark Arts assignment and book out. It was his favorite subject and he didn't have to concentrate so much on it. After a couple of hours, Severus came to his room and knocked on the door. The knock startled Harry and made him jump.

"C-come in," said Harry timidly. The door was open so Severus knew Harry could see him.

"You don't need to be afraid. I was just coming to tell you it is lunch time," said Severus calmly. Severus watched Harry slowly relax.

"Oh, is it that late," said Harry surprised. He was so focused on his work he didn't notice it was nearing lunch. Now that he knew it was lunch time he was hungry. Severus set down Harry's tray on the bed while Harry cleared away his school stuff. Severus went to sit in the chair next to Harry's bed to eat his own lunch.

"I see you started doing your homework?" Severus started the conversation.

"Yeah, I figured if I was stuck in bed it was the best time to get started." Harry responded while picking up the sandwich from his tray.

"That's good to hear. So I wanted to tell you some things Healer Williams told me." Severus said turning the conversation serious.

"You mean Charlie. Is it bad news?" Harry asked bracing himself for the worse.

"No actually it is good news for once," said Severus cheerfully. He even smiled, but only for a brief second.

"Really what is it?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I asked Charlie about how much longer I have to put salve on you and he said probably in a couple of days." Harry thought about this for a minute. Severus didn't have to apply the salve anymore. No one had to touch his scars or that spot anymore. That means the memories will stop.

"That's great," exclaimed Harry.

"I also asked Charlie if we can take you to Diagon Ally, so you can get some toys and new clothes. Charlie says if you don't have a fever than we can all go together." Severus told Harry.

"What do you mean we all go together?" Harry asked Severus.

"Charlie wanted to go with us in case something happened. He is afraid you might have a panic attack or an asthma attack. He believes I won't be able to help you as quickly and efficiently as he can." Severus explained.

"He thinks I might have another panic attack. He thinks I'm weak." Harry murmured.

"P-Harry, no one thinks you are weak. Right now you are having a difficult moment in your life. We just want to help." Snape said looking at Harry. Harry didn't know he had spoken, so he was shocked by what Severus said.

"No one has uncontrollable panic attacks." Harry said trying to make Severus believe he was not normal.

Severus came over to Harry and grabbed his chin. Severus wanted to make sure Harry knew how serious he was and how he wasn't alone.

"Harry everyone has panic attacks. Everyone has moments of weakness, but it is only one moment in their whole lives. Just one moment. It will pass and you won't feel so weak anymore." Severus explained to him. All he wanted was for Harry to understand that this will pass too.

Snape got off the bed and went back to sit at his chair to finish his lunch. Harry thought about what Severus said to him. All this is just a moment in his life. A moment of weakness. What was Severus trying to tell him? Harry looked down at his tray. He picked up his sandwich and finished eating it. Harry figured he would figure out Severus's message later.


End file.
